Nickel Belt: A New Arena Isn’t a Win for Taxpayers — It’s a Big Gamble Sudbury Can’t Afford. City Council Should Think Twice About This Investment
January 12th 2026
Before Sudbury commits hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to a new downtown arena and the planned infrastructure enhancements around the arena, City Council needs to take a serious look at what decades of research says about publicly funded sports venues.
Across North America, governments have poured billions into new arenas hoping they would spark economic development — but the results rarely match the promises.
Economists who studied 130+ examples over 30 years found that sports facilities almost never deliver meaningful economic benefit, and taxpayers almost always end up footing the bill.
For example, City Council has been telling us that the new arena is going to revitalize the downtown core and stimulate the economy for downtown development. But is this true? Is it even realistic?
The arena will cost the City $12 million per year for the next 30 years as we pay off the investment just for the arena, and not for the other infrastructure improvements. Is any economic benefit going to come close to covering that debt? If not, then why are we investing any money on a losing proposition.
When we first decided to build the arena on the Kingsway as part of the KED, at a cost of $100 million, the new commercial tax revenue from a casino, two hotels and other businesses that were going to be built as part of the critical mass was going to cover our debt payments. That was value for money because we would be stimulating the economy across the city, rather than just in the downtown core, and we would be getting more than our money back.
We all agree that arenas can create excitement and civic pride, but those benefits don’t pay the bills. Even when tourism bumps or business spinoffs happen, the financial gain falls far below the public investment, leaving residents with higher taxes and fewer dollars for things we actually need — like roads, housing, transit and emergency services.
Some see the downtown arena / event centre project as nothing more than a political move - a flashy project that looks like progress but is actually shifting money from core community services that deliver far more value per dollar.
Sudbury already has an arena that works for concerts, hockey and events. Before we pour more public money into a new downtown building, Council still has time to rethink the project.
Let’s make decisions based on evidence, not hype, and protect local taxpayers from taking on massive costs that may never come back home. |
